This will kill Kerry among African Americans during general election
Kerry's position on affirmative action is
troublesome
Affirmative action, he argued, "has kept America thinking in racial terms." It has helped foster a "culture of dependency." Further, he said, "there exists a reality of reverse discrimination that actually engenders racism."
"We have to ask ourselves in 1992 whether this social disintegration is merely a symptom of deteriorating values that has swept all of this country to some degree. We must ask whether it is the result of a massive shift in the psychology of our nation that some argue grew out of the excesses of the 1960's, a shift from self-reliance to indulgence and dependence, from caring to self-indulgence, from public accountability to public abdication and chaos."
It's not about the position he has taken, it's about the language, this kind of language is insulting to African Americans. If Dean said it, he would be beaten to death by press.
Today, Clark Needles Kerry on Affirmative Action
Democratic presidential contender Wesley Clark (news - web sites) on Friday criticized rival John Kerry (news - web sites) for failing to take responsibility for comments he said Kerry made about affirmative action.
"When you make a mistake you ought to fess up to it, take responsibility for it, and correct it," Clark said while visiting historically black Benedict College. "We need leadership that will take responsibility in this country, and I'm very disturbed that John did not do that."
In a candidate debate Thursday night, moderator Tom Brokaw of NBC News asked Kerry about reservations he said the senator had expressed in the 1990s concerning affirmative action. Brokaw quoted Kerry as having described the policy as representing a culture of dependency.
Kerry responded that he had been describing what critics of affirmative action had said and then contended he had agreed with President Clinton (news - web sites) and others who wanted to "mend it, not end it."
"There were a great many questions in the country about how it was being implemented. We wanted to keep it," Kerry said. "I've always supported it."
Clark read the debate exchange to the college audience on Friday and said he was bothered that Kerry had not acknowledged he had made a mistake.
"He should acknowledge what he said in the past and take responsibility for it because that's the kind of leadership we need," Clark said.
"I'm very strong on that program because we worked it and made it work in the United States Armed Forces," said Clark, a retired four-star general.
